Gender differences in ambiguity aversion under different outcome correlation structures

This paper studies the impact of different outcome correlation structures on gender differences in ambiguity aversion. We conducted an investment game with two separate treatments. In the uncorrelated treatment, the outcomes of the investment game were determined individually. In the correlated treatment, the outcomes of the investment game were determined collectively within a reference group. From an evolutionary perspective, men should be more concerned about relative outcomes, because their reproductive success mainly depended on their relative standing within society. Women, by contrast, should be more concerned about absolute outcomes, because their reproductive success was mainly linked to their access to resources for themselves and their children. Therefore, we predict that the type of outcome correlation structure has a larger impact on men than on women. In particular, we hypothesize that men are less ambiguity averse under an uncorrelated outcome structure. In this situation, the ambiguous alternative should be more attractive, because it potentially reduces inequality and thereby improves men’s relative standing within society. Women’s choices should not be significantly affected by different outcome correlation structures. Both hypotheses are supported by evidence from laboratory experiments.     

Structural landscape changes in urban and peri-urban agricultural systems of two West African cities and their relations to ecosystem services provided by woody plant communities

Urban Ecosystems - High urbanization pressure in Sub-Saharan Africa led to changes in the composition and configuration of rural and peri-urban agricultural production systems and to the...     

Die Rolle sozialer Normen, der Situationsdefinition und sozialer Klassen beim Untergang der Titanic

Under what conditions do humans comply with social norms in life-and-death situations? Eye witnesses confirm that male passengers and crew respected the norm ??women and children first?? after the collision of the Titanic with an iceberg. In a recent publication Frey et al. (K?lner Z Soz Sozpsychol 63:237?C254, 2011) argued that the relatively large time span between the collision and the sinking of the ship was the crucial factor in explaining the remarkable degree of norm compliance. However, as is suggested here, risk perception or ??the definition of the situation?? is a relevant factor too. In contrast to Frey et al. eye-witness reports and statistical evidence raise doubts about the claim that there was no neglect or discrimination of class passengers during the catastrophic events.     

Betting on Illusory Patterns: Probability Matching in Habitual Gamblers

Why do people gamble? A large body of research suggests that cognitive distortions play an important role in pathological gambling. Many of these distortions are specific cases of a more general misperception of randomness, specifically of an illusory perception of patterns in random sequences. In this article, we provide further evidence for the assumption that gamblers are particularly prone to perceiving illusory patterns. In particular, we compared habitual gamblers to a matched sample of community members with regard to how much they exhibit the choice anomaly ‘probability matching’. Probability matching describes the tendency to match response proportions to outcome probabilities when predicting binary outcomes. It leads to a lower expected accuracy than the maximizing strategy of predicting the most likely event on each trial. Previous research has shown that an illusory perception of patterns in random sequences fuels probability matching. So does impulsivity, which is also reported to be higher in gamblers. We therefore hypothesized that gamblers will exhibit more probability matching than non-gamblers, which was confirmed in a controlled laboratory experiment. Additionally, gamblers scored much lower than community members on the cognitive reflection task, which indicates higher impulsivity. This difference could account for the difference in probability matching between the samples. These results suggest that gamblers are more willing to bet impulsively on perceived illusory patterns.     

Social media in the 2011 Egyptian uprising

This paper uses Gallup poll data to assess two narratives that have crystallized around the 2011 Egyptian uprising: (1) New electronic communications media constituted an important and independent cause of the protests in so far as they enhanced the capacity of demonstrators to extend protest networks, express outrage, organize events, and warn comrades of real‐time threats. (2) Net of other factors, new electronic communications media played a relatively minor role in the uprising because they are low‐cost, low‐risk means of involvement that attract many sympathetic onlookers who are not prepared to engage in high‐risk activism. Examining the independent effects of a host of factors associated with high‐risk movement activism, the paper concludes that using some new electronic communications media was associated with being a demonstrator. However, grievances, structural availability, and network connections were more important than was the use of new electronic communications media in distinguishing demonstrators from sympathetic onlookers. Thus, although both narratives have some validity, they must both be qualified.     

Growth Patterns in the CIS-8: A Political Economy Approach

On the whole GDP growth is usually considered robust in the CIS-8. However, there are remarkable differences in the quality of growth performances between the countries in the region. These differences cast doubts on the sustainability of the recent growth performance in some Caspian/Caucasian countries. This paper tries to develop a basic understanding of the different qualities of growth performance other than GDP growth rates. Therefore, we distinguish between volume-driven and efficiency-driven growth. Taking into account different resource endowments, we identify different patterns of physical capital accumulation and development of Total Factor Productivity (TFP) growth. The results of our fixed effects model indicate that governance has a significant positive effect on TFP and GDP per capita growth, whereas our results for regime type indicate a non-linear relationship. Therefore, we conclude that institutional quality seems to be the major determinant causing efficiency-driven growth and is thus of major importance when assessing the sustainability of growth paths in the region.     

Information production and bidding in IPOs

Despite their theoretical efficiency in selling shares to the public, auctions are not the preferred mechanisms in Initial Public Offerings (IPOs). Chemmanur and Liu (2006) and Sherman (2005) provide a rational explanation for this puzzle based on the notion that issuers are not only interested in the offering proceeds, but also the secondary market price, and thus try to induce investors to produce information about the IPO. In this paper, we report the results of an experimental study set up to test the basic mechanisms underlying this reasoning. Our findings strongly support the theoretical argument. If the issuer has some discretion in setting the offering price (as with bookbuilding or fixed-price offerings), he can maintain investors’ propensity to produce information by appropriately adjusting the offering price even if information costs are high. In auctions, however, high information costs inevitably result in a low propensity to produce information as investors bid too competitively to recover the costs of information production. Our results provide experimental support for the theoretical argument that an auction is not the preferable offering mechanism for young and risky IPO firms because, while there is strong demand for information about such firms, the costs of producing this information are high.     

Should I Stay or Should I Go? Engaging and Disengaging Experiences in Welfare-Sector Volunteering

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - This paper seeks to reconstruct the specific experiences that strengthen or erode the commitment of volunteers in the...     

A taxonomy of international manufacturing networks

Abstract

Manufacturing firms with multiple product groups do not need to involve all factories in the production of all product groups. Some factories may specialize on a small set of products, while others participate in the manufacturing of a broader set of products. However, current theories on international manufacturing networks do not explain in detail how organizations design international manufacturing networks for different products or product groups involving different sets of factories. This research investigates 20 product group networks at five global manufacturing firms. We distinguish between three types of factories: component manufacturing factories, assembly factories, and integrated factories (having both component manufacturing and assembly). Furthermore, we identify four network types: linear, divergent, convergent, and mixed structures. These four types exhibit distinctly different characteristics in terms of key characteristics, factory roles, product types, process types, market types, sourcing, and key managerial challenges. Most networks are relatively small – on an average consisting of four factories and some contain a number of subnetworks that are self-sufficient in terms of material flow and serve separate market regions. We identify two new types of factory roles related to component manufacturing competences, which we call ‘strategic feeder’ and ‘full lead’.